The day that Starman failed to take the hint

Starman was a team-penning, barrel-racing, pole-bending cow horse – and a very good one – before he came to live with me. He had two speeds. Really really fast, and STOP. I was not thinking clearly when I bought this horse, because really really fast is not a speed I like to go.

But Starman had a lot of personality, and I was in love. In all fairness, he was also a fantastic trail horse. Fearless, comfortable to ride at a walk, and eager to please. We spent many trail rides meandering along the creek, just enjoying nature.

But humans being what they are, I wanted to try and improve things. If other horses could calmly walk, jog, trot, and canter around the arena, why couldn’t Starman? We were introduced to the Parelli program by a friend at the barn – Mary. Starman and I both enjoyed playing the Parelli games. He excelled at the ground work.

The challenges came in the riding portion of the Parelli program. He was what Parelli called an “impulsive” horse, meaning that he had more “go” than “whoa.” While a dog walk or slow jog was pleasant, Starman believed the next gait after that was a gallop. Not a lope, not a canter, but something very close to a controlled gallop (and it was very close to an uncontrolled gallop.) Bring on those barrels!

And he had more energy than a dozen 2-year-olds. I had never known him to quit.

So Mary and I decided to try the “Impulsion Exercise” which one of our Parelli instructors had told us about. The idea was to teach your horse to respond to your “cue” of body language to slow down.

The exercise went like this: You placed cones at the corners of the arena, and also in the center of each side to give you a marker for making your turns. Then you start at one of the center cones. At a posting trot, cut straight across the arena towards the cone on the opposite side. When you get there, turn right and trot along the rail, passing the cone in the corner, til you come to the next center cone. Turn right again and cut across the arena. Keep going in this pattern of right turns, forming a giant four-leaf-clover in the arena.

According to the book, you keep this up for 10-15 minutes, at a posting trot, and then at one point when you reach the center of the arena, you “relax” and “sit” (no rein pressure) to signal to your horse that he should slow down, take a break, and even halt, in response to your “relax” cue. If he doesn’t take the hint right away, then you push him on in the cloverleaf pattern until another pass through the center. Try again. Relax cues are only given in the center of the arena. If he doesn’t respond, he has to go another round of the pattern. The exercise warned that the more impulsive horses may take up to 30 minutes before they “take the hint.”

Apparently Starman did not read the book. After 15 minutes, he didn’t even take notice of my “relax” cue. He pushed on through the pattern. After 30 minutes, he was still going strong, and showed no interest whatsoever in slowing down. Mary watched us with some concern. Fortunately, no one else was riding that afternoon, so we had the arena to ourselves.

Finally, after ONE HOUR AND 15 MINUTES, Starman slowed down a step. Before he could decide he wasn’t done, I applied gentle pressure to the reins and he stopped. I had been posting the entire time. As I slid to the ground, I realized that my legs had transformed to rubber. I could barely stand, and I really had to go to bathroom. Mary took the reins and held Starman has I hobbled back to the barn. Starman was also breathing heavily, but the look in his eye told me that he was ready for more. My brain was too foggy to think about it.

The next step in the exercise was to do the same thing, only making left turns this time. Returning to the arena, I did not think my legs and back and brain could manage it. Mary volunteered to ride the next stint. True to his nature of never acting as you expect him to, Starman was ready to slow down in 15 minutes.

He was probably more tired than he thought he was. However, I know that if he had been asked, he would have continued until he dropped. He’s a horse with a big heart. The part he didn’t realize, though, was that we weren’t always asking. It was all in his head.

It was one of the most exhausting afternoons I had ever spent riding (of course this was during one of the famous Houston summers). But I will say that when I rode him the next day, he was quick to listen to my cues to slow down. Apparently he didn’t want to go through another round like that either.

4 Responses

Cool exercise! I use something like this with my horses. Having to fix the stuff other people have created is always harder than starting from scratch though, so I’ve never had to ride it that long. But I know that rubber legged feeling, I usually get it on long trail rides. Glad to hear that Starman got it figured out.